Volume 1, Issue 2 | June 1, 2020

Preparing Technicians for the Future of Work is pleased to bring you news and resources in collaboration with the NSF Advanced Technology Education (ATE) community and industry partners. We hope that this content will be useful in this time of substantial educational change. For more information about our project, please visit preparingtechnicians.org.

Higher Education - ATE Rise to Challenges of COVID-19

STEM Technician Students Surveyed About Remote Instruction

FLATE - Engineering Technology Forum, Fall 2019

During the recent “virtual” Spring Meeting of the Florida Forum on Engineering Technology , participants expressed concern about technician students’ experience in moving to remote instruction this semester due to COVID-19. Based on early reports from community college partners, the transition has been challenging, and some programs indicated students are even considering withdrawing from their programs. As one faculty member explained: “They have given up. [Students] feel they can’t do this online without support.” There was interest in discussing this topic further at the next ET Forum due to both the uncertainty related to the return of in-person instruction and the perceived need to improve student comfort and confidence in online learning. To help inform that discussion, the Florida Advanced Technological Education Center (FLATE) and the Inquiry Research Group LLC teamed up to create a small pilot survey to collect some initial feedback from Florida technician students about their online experience this past semester. About half of students report feeling worried about making progress toward their degree, although about two-thirds did feel that they would be able to complete the semester. While students felt having access to course materials all the time worked well for them, they also felt the greatest challenge was not being able to learn in a hands-on way. In order to overcome obstacles in online learning, students report relying heavily on instructors. Read more Marilyn Barger , Executive Director, Florida Advanced Technological Education Center Lakshmi Jayaram , President, Inquiry Research Group

COVID-19, Higher-Ed, and What the Future Holds

The rapid online response in education to the COVID-19 crisis was nothing short of amazing. Seemingly overnight, all levels of education were required to shift from using a variety of methods to deliver instruction to remote learning. The instantaneous learning curve and ramp for students, teachers, and administrators displayed the true will and adaptability of humankind. We adapt, we overcome, and we prosper.  That said, humankind, given time, wants and will return to some state of normalcy. Within a month of “stay-in-place orders” in the United States, there are signs of adaptation, acceptance, and safe-socializing like “Quarantining.” As we go forward into the fall 2020 academic year, this need to adapt will hold especially true in education. Remote learning may be preferred by those with certain learning styles, but for many others, learning is a social activity best done in person. The social aspect of learning is particularly important in technician STEM fields where hands-on teamwork is a major part of a career. So how does education adapt? Read more  Kevin Cooper , Principal Investigator, Regional Center for Nuclear Education and Training, Indian River State College

GeoTech Center - Opportunities for Professional Development

The National Geospatial Technology Center of Excellence (GeoTech Center) has modified the delivery for some of their professional development to be offered during the remainder of the year, due to the uncertainty of any in person gatherings. GeoTech will hold its annual GeoEd’20 Conference on June 9 th and 10 th . It will be virtual in format for the first time in the conference history while keeping many of the features of past conferences. The conference is also being shortened from three days to two. There will continue to be sessions on a variety of topics in geospatial technologies. Each session will be offered in a two-hour block, utilizing interactive desktop video. The conference will have multiple concurrent sessions. While the conference is entirely virtual, it will have valuable content and pedagogy presented, cutting edge technologies discussed and times allocated for networking. In addition to the learning sessions, there will be keynote speakers during ‘a virtual luncheon’ and there will be a ‘virtual happy hour session’ designed for networking of the participants. Read More by Vincent Dinoto Jr. Director and Principal Investigator of the National Geospatial Center of Excellence

Additional Instructional Resources

E-MATE 2.0 - Building Capacity for Interactive Teaching and Learning  The NSF ATE project, E-books and Mobile Apps for Technician Education (E-MATE), led by a team at Brookdale Community College,has developed interactive content in the supply chain and photonics fields. Designed to engage students and improve remote teaching and learning, the   Intro to the Automated Warehouse widgets include animation of working gear pumps, gear pump internal teeth, radial pistol pump, and vane pumps. The Automated Warehouse modules also include before and after visual comparisons using a slider widget. The slider widget allows the user to view two versions of the same image. By manually using the slider the user can compare   infrared thermography, working and failed resistors, and pressure relief valves. The Light and Lasers widget includes “Snell’s Law” module , where students can activate a laser, position it at various angles and fire it through different materials, and using virtual tools like protractors and calculators to better understand the properties of refraction. There are also interactive modules for Polarization, Laser Safety, Absorption Characteristics of the Human Eye and others. Interactive objects on chemistry, cybersecurity, environmental science, and physics are available in draft versions. All can be accessed using smart phones and tablets via the project website, E-Mate Interactive Widgets

RCNET Instructional Modules for Nuclear Technology

RCNET is an NSF ATE partner that provides a workforce pipeline to the nuclear industry through programming and professional development in nuclear energy , nuclear environmental management, and nuclear life and plant science. RCNET i s located at Indian River State College in Fort Pierce, Florida and is a consortium of 56 colleges and universities, 92 industry partners, multiple agencies and other partners. Among many educational resources available on their website, these introductory modules provide the basis for a nuclear technician's education and career.

Nuclear 3D Scanning This module provides an intro-introduction to 3D scanning and its applications in nuclear industry. Module materials include: Lesson plan PowerPoint presentation Pre and post assessments and answer keys RCNET Module PDF - Nuclear 3D Scanning Module downloads Go to the Nuclear 3D Scanning Module page.

Nuclear Robotics This module was developed as an introductory course to general robotics and its applications in nuclear technology. Module materials include: Lesson plan Six learning outcomes Module schedule List of materials needed, lesson plan and lecture notes Lessons learned and takeaways List of related concepts References List of supplement and enrichment material Go to the Nuclear Robotics Module page.

Nuclear Cybersecurity This module is an introduction to s ecuring SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) Systems. Module materials include: Lesson plan PowerPoint lecture and notes Pre and post assessments and answer keys Glossaries Resources Suggested readings. Go to the Nuclear Cybersecurity Module page.

Listen to the Preparing Technicians for the Future of Work Podcasts

Hosted by Mike Lesiecki, the project's monthly podcasts cover topics such as artificial intelligence, the internet-of-things, cybersecurity, advanced robotics, digital design and prototyping, and other topics at the changing interface of technology, work, and education.  In each podcast, you will hear interviews with industry leaders and working technicians in the field. In the most recent episode 14, "Delivering Automation at UPS" Mike is joined by David Ayala, UPS Western Region Buildings and Systems Engineering Training Manager. They take a look at the evolution of UPS and its increasingly automated processes in this high-pressure industry. Listen to all of the podcasts here: https://www.preparingtechnicians.org/wordpress/podcasts/   Also available on Google Play and Apple Podcasts.

Disclaimer: This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under NSF DUE #1839567. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

‌